


The Family You Make

by Magical_Awesome_Kid



Category: BNA: Brand New Animal (Anime)
Genre: And Blood Family, Family Feels, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Kuro is Kuro, Michiru is still young, Nazuna and Michiru are an item but it's not the focus here, Shirou is a good pack mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:34:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25075447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magical_Awesome_Kid/pseuds/Magical_Awesome_Kid
Summary: Michiru had been so excited for this day for weeks.Now she can't seem to unearth herself from her covers
Relationships: Background, Hiwatashi Nazuna/Kagemori Michiru, Kagemori Michiru & Ogami Shirou
Comments: 27
Kudos: 503





	The Family You Make

**Author's Note:**

> I am VERY NOT OK with shipping a 1000 year old with a basically teenager so, as an author, it is my duty to fill in with fluff and family :D Besides, Shirou has big Pack Mom/big brother energy.

It had been over a year since she had stepped foot in Anima City.

Michiru Kagemori. That was her name, and, all that time ago, she had been Human. She was athletic, a bit brash, and a bit thick headed (especially when it came to subtle things like romance). Back, before it all began, she was a normal teenage human girl, sixteen, with a best friend and big dreams of the larger world.

Then there was the accident. Her memories, to this day, were always fuzzy of that day, but, from what she and everyone else had pieced together, her best friend, Nazuna Hiwatashi, had just split off from the other girl, their normal parting on the way home. As always, she had been walking her bike in the pedestrian crosswalk, humming along to the music in her headphones.

Except on this day, Michiru had seen a truck speeding down the road far above what the speed limit was, showing no signs of slowing down. Michiru reacted with little thought, just instinct, as she ran to push her friend out of the way. It had almost worked, the cops had said later. The driver, who was drunk, ended up still hitting the teens, but between Nazuna’s bike and Michiru’s desperate shove, the damage, while still severe, was less so. What should have been the end of Nazuna Hiwatashi was, instead, several surgeries and a week in the hospital for each girl.

What they didn’t know was that the experimental blood of the Beastmen, the other fully sentient species that walked their world, had mixed with the normal human shipment.

Beastmen had existed as long as humans, if not longer. Humans and Beastmen had some of the most recent common ancestors, but they were, until that moment, believed to be separate species. Beastmen had more genes encoded in their DNA, whole extra chromosomes, and even protein structures that couldn’t exist in humans. At the same time, Beastmen had the ability to appear mostly human. Beastmen, for centuries, had mostly existed in a sphere of myth for many humans. The Beastmen population was much smaller to the growth that was humanity. They mostly existed in their villages that filled their subspecies niches, such as large flying bird colonies and many hunters sticking together. They spilled into one another on occasion, and there were scuffles, but at the end of the day, it was that Beastmen were Beastmen. They protected one another from the human threat.

And the humans had become that. Thousands of years had seen the human outgrow the Beastman population, and they had felt threatened by the species that, in old times, they had revered as gods. Where Humans had numbers, Beastmen had the skies, claws, and sharp teeth. At about the year 500, the tides began to shift, and Beastmen came together, forced by the human hand. With the later eras, as technology grew, anywhere Beastmen tried to set up home, the humans claimed as their own. Their own laws, their growing force, was more than any Beastmen could do. The 1800s worsened this, with humans expanding, with the beginnings of technological revolution. It was a matter of time.

The tide broke again. The World Wars, begun by the humans against their own kind, shifted the views of Beastmen once more. From Gods to Monsters, the world, from their new TV screens, began to see the terror that the Beastmen went through rivaled their own. Sympathies grew into the 50s and 60s, but there was still a huge faction that fought for the sub-classification of Beastmen. War eventually broke out, between the Beastmen and the bigoted humans, and peace was found only at the death of many.

Anima City was a major concession. A city-state, self-governed, that allowed the Beastmen to find haven and home. It was, like many cities, no Utopia for all, but it was an escape from a world where many people still saw their kind as animals, not worthy of respect and equality.

Michiru hadn’t paid much attention when news broke of the new homeland of Beastmen. She had barely been a toddler when plans went into effect, and she’d been so small when the city finished building, finally opening its doors fully to the Beastmen of the world. If it wasn’t for the accident, her life probably would have continued that way.

But the accident had led to surgeries, surgeries requiring blood transfusions. The experimental blood packs that should have never been put in the hands of humans then ran through her veins, and, due to the mutagenic nature of the packs, she and Nazuna had changed.

Now, they were Beastmen. Looking back, it made sense. Their horrid injuries that should have taken months to heal and longer to recover full movement resolved in a fraction of the time. Michiru had barely missed any of Basketball season, and Nazuna had been able to try out for the play. Their new, weird DNA was already doing its thing, changing them in ways they couldn’t begin to know.

Then Nazuna was changed, kidnapped, and gone. Michiru had changed soon after, but she’d been able to sneak home and lock herself away. It had taken a year to finally make her escape to the place she thought was safe.

Anima City had been far more then Michiru ever thought her life could be. She made new friends, created her own little Beastly family at the Beastman Co-Op. She’d fought pure evil and helped a genuinely good (if grumpy) man find his spirit again. She’d saved a world with her actions, and now she was continuing to do her thing, helping Anima City one day at a time. She had abilities no one else did, not just her mutagenic blood and transformative abilities but in her skills and friendliness. Her most recent project had been a basketball league that didn’t require possible death to play, and it was starting to pick up with the younger kids (adults, for some reason, still loved their violent sports). She helped Shirou, her unofficial guardian and “Pack Mom” as she liked to tease, when he was dealing with the darkness that still haunted Anima City. Shirou, the Silver Wolf, the legendary warrior and protector of Beastmen, was like her grouchy brother or parent figure since she’d come to Anima City, even if they butted heads over their apparently shared stubbornness. As much as she and the city had changed, so, too, had Shirou tho. He’d become more open, in his own way, and left many of his old ‘lone warrior wolf’ ways behind. The collar he once wore to contain his powers rested on a shelf in his library, a token to remember, but he’d come to embrace his full self.

While Shirou had been a big parental figure to Michiru since coming to Anima City, since discovering her powers and abilities, she still had human family in the outside world, whom she missed.

Which was why today was so important. Today, normal humans whom had been granted tourist visas were allowed into Anima City. It had been decided by the Mayor soon after the attacks that she couldn’t bubble up her people, and she realized that the sympathizers had been major in gaining Beastman rights to begin with. Still, she wanted to start slow, so visas were given out to those who applied and passed the rigorous checks that the city ran.

Michiru had wanted to wait at the ports, but, once she arrived with Nazuna, she’d, well… she’d panicked.

And that was how Michiru had found herself hidden under about ten blankets in the room of the Co-Op.

She heard the door open from under her pile, and her ears easily picked up the soft flap of wings and the gait. She hid more. “Your girlfriend hasn’t stopped calling me for the last half an hour.” The gruff voice said.

Oh, yeah, and that was another thing that had changed – her and Nazuna had started dating. It was still new, but, in Anima city, dating dynamics were… different. Homosexuality was more common and accepted because, unlike with humans, the Beastmen never had any weird Victorian era to outlaw it. Animal Instincts ruled out in many cases, and, well, if you wanted to make a fight out of it, then there would be a fight. Of course, Nazuna being an idol and absolute badass she was, compounded with Michiru also being a badass and being the nicest person you could meet, meant that even fewer people tried anything these days. After all, nobody wanted a little pipsqueak Tanuki girl to suddenly drop from the sky and squish them with her gorilla arms (it happened once on accident ok?).

The bed dipped, shaking Michiru from her thoughts. A lighter weight sat on roughly where her head was. “You going to get out of there this century?”

“No.” She returned, pulling the blankets closer.

There was a sigh. “I thought you were all excited about today. Being an ambassador to the… humans.” He still didn’t like humans much, but it was a work in progress. Humans had caused him so much trauma, after all. “And all. Pinky has been flying all over, but the Mayor apparently needed her. She needs you, too, so she has also been calling me.”

“How’d you find me?”

He snorted. “I could sniff out your scent from a country away, pup.”

She stuck out her tongue at the nickname, even if he couldn’t see it. “Whatever, mama wolf.” She cringed a moment later at her wording.

There was silence again.

“You know.” His voice was soft again. “I’m not… a ‘feelings’ person, but I know that you have faced far worse than some humans with cameras. You’ve been excited for today for weeks now. What’s up?”

Michiru sighed and slowly extricated herself from the bundles. Kuro squawked as his perch was messed with, but, as Michiru looked out, she saw Shirou sitting on the end of her bed, in his human form, with his jacket on. Shirou watched as the almost twenty-year-old dug herself out, but the look on her very-human face was odd.

“I’m… I’m scared.” She said, finally. “You know my parents are on one of those boats. I’ve been messaging and calling them, but… I’ve kept things light. Coming here, I’m worried that they will freak out and never come back.”

Shirou lifted an eyebrow. “Are you worried that they would demand you come with?”

“Maybe?” Michiru returned, sitting up. Her face sparkled as her familiar Tanuki features returned, a form that she had spent most of her time in since coming to Anima City. She always said now she felt more normal and in control in this form these days. “But I know they can’t make me do anything, but if they leave and never speak to me again…” She pulled the blankets close. “I love them. I’m so scared that they’ll leave me forever.”

Shirou hesitantly scooted closer on the bed before setting a hand between her ears, a favorite scratch spot for the girl that she had discovered since becoming part-Beastman. She leaned into Shirou fully, the man tucking her under his arm while rubbing her head.

“For as much as you never think, you worry too much.”

Michiru frowned. “Hey! I think a lot!”

Shirou looked at her, making sure that she could see, and gave her the most ‘Really?’ look he could fathom. Kuro, who had moved to her lap, also seemed to be laughing at the tanuki girl. “Mayor’s office last week.”

Michiru turned bright red. “I thought it was a great date spot! The roof would have been great for watching the stars!”

“Right, until you had everything blown _off_ the roof because you had nothing weighed down.”

“Nobody got hurt!”

“You mean aside from the Mayor who took no less than three cupcakes to the head?”

Michiru shoved him lightly. “Hey, at least I got her favorites.”

Shirou chuckled, and Michiru finally gave a giggle as well.

There was more silence, but this one more calm.

“I still don’t trust most humans.” Shirou broke, once again. Michiru, for once, was quiet. “They don’t really understand us still, and that makes me angry.” His free hand gripped the sheets, and his fur began to grow along his skin. He took a breathe through his snout. “But.” He looked. “I came to trust you, you pesky pup of a human. I know you are scared, but, remember, I’m always going to protect the Beastmen, including you.” He took another breathe, and his wolfish form receded. “And, if that means holding the baby’s hand while her parents come to Anima City, I’ll do it.”

Michiru popped up, shocked. “Shirou… you HATED the idea of humans coming. You told the Mayor no less than ten times that you refused to be anywhere near them.”

Kuro hopped from Michiru’s lap to Shirou’s, where he began to absently stroke the old bird’s head. “I did. I still don’t trust them on sight.” He looked at her. “But I protect my people, especially my little pack here. So, if the most annoying pup needs a hand, I’ll suck it up.”

Michiru felt tears well in her eyes. “You… you sure? I really don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to.”

He released Kuro to run a hand through his hair. “I won’t promise that I won’t threaten anyone, but… if it’s just you and Pinky’s families, I think I can handle it. They’ll probably smell like you, so at least that will help.”

The weight shifted at his side, and suddenly a teen girl was hugging his midsection. “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” She sniffed, pulling him as tight as she could without activating her powers. He sighed at the mess of emotions he called his friend and pseudo sibling before patting her back awkwardly. It was just their thing at this point.

After a few more minutes, Shirou’s phone began to ring again. He picked it up and answered in a few short words, but Michiru was still pulling herself together.

“The boats are pretty close, and the Mayor wants you at the docks ASAP for the meeting overview. The meeting that you missed.”

Michiru cleaned her face, her Tanuki mask hiding any redness, but her eyes seemed to twinkle. “I can make up time. And, Shirou?” She took a breath. “I’m sticking with my Beastman form for this. I know Nazuna is going to be human, but I like how I am here. However you want to come, it’s fine with me.” She then grinned growing her arms. “And I’ll fight whoever says otherwise.”

Shirou chuckled once more as he stood, Kuro on his shoulder as he tucked his hands into his pockets. “Really? Little one trying to assert her territory, eh?” He said this, but she could already see his hair fluff again as he began to transform.

Michiru used Shirou’s arm to link her own, pulling him towards he roof hatch. “Hey, sometimes us little guys gotta protect you old Pack Moms. Besides, you’re, like, SUPER old.”

“Are you insulting me?”

“Never would dream of it!”

“Bratty Tanuki.”

“Shaggy Dog.”

The bickering continued long into the air to the docks, where two sets of parents, for the first time in years, saw their lost daughters.

Michiru had, much as Shirou had said, held his hand until the last minutes, where they were running towards her, and her emotions overran her. Nazuna was much the same, as the rest of the visitors were cared for by the Mayor’s team, whom had prepared for this.

There was checking over, rushed hugs and kisses and ‘I love you’ and ‘I missed you’ and ‘if you ever do that again we’re GROUNDING you!’ Shirou hung back as this occurred, worried about the human scent, but his guess had been right. He could still smell their human-ness, but it was clear that the oddness that was part of Michiru and Nazuna resonated with their parents. It was that little bit that helped sooth Shirou’s ingrained instincts to protect the Beastmen, specifically by grabbing the girls, throwing them somewhere safe, and then taking down the humans.

“Oh! Mom, dad, I need you to meet someone!” Michiru wiggled out of her parents’ grips to run over to the shadows where Shirou had been watching. His eyes went wide, lightly shaking his head, but the girl didn’t see or didn’t care, because she took his arm and pulled him forward. “This is Shirou Ogami. He’s a social worker here who has been helping me since I got here. You remember him from my messages, right?”

Shirou didn’t know what to expect, but the parents’ apparently shared much of their daughter’s emotional features. A split second of confusion and fear, then astonishment, revere, and… gratitude.

Both parents bowed.

“It’s great to finally meet the man who has been looking after our little girl all of this time.” The father said as he straightened. “I’d offer a hand, but Michiru mentioned in her messages that you weren’t much of toucher.”

His wife stood. “Believe me, I’d offer a hug right now.” She sniffed, tears in her eyes again. “We’re so grateful to you and everyone who has helped Michiru through all of this. She’s said nothing but good things about her little ‘beastly’ family that she has made, and she has told us so many things about you.”

“Thank you, again.” The father reiterated.

Shirou didn’t know how to respond. The scents coming off them made him feel queasy suddenly but in a weird way. Not like he was going to puke. Was this… what was this feeling? It was weird and soft and he hated it. He blamed the stupid Tanuki girl.

He nodded. “I wish to pass my praise to you as well.” The parents looked shocked. “While she is brash, idiotic, and danger prone…”

“Hey!” Michiru interrupted.

Shirou continued. “…at times, she is also cleaver, resourceful, and loving. She’s made friends with everyone she’s met, and she’s brought communities together in ways that hasn’t been possible for ten years.”

Shirou hesitated again.

“I will make an exception to the ‘no touch’ and offer a handshake if that is acceptable to you.”

Michiru snorted. “Why are you always so formal?”

“Michiru! Respect Mr. Shirou’s boundaries.” The mother chided.

“Yes mom.”

With that, Shirou did something that he hadn’t done in centuries.

He shook hands with humans amicably, with a little half-Beastman girl already spouting off everything that they needed to do, pulling Nazuna and her parents over as well. Shirou eventually managed to make up an excuse to leave – he had his limits on the humans – and Michiru gave him one last one-sided hug for the road. Her smell helped with the human scent, and he appreciated it.

He went back to the Co-Op, lay on his couch, and slept, dreaming of a festival, a crazed Tanuki girl, and love and protection for his people.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!


End file.
